The announcement is part of the 9,000 job cuts announced by the bank in 2014.

However, a Lloyds spokeswoman says the bank will create 195 new roles.

She says: “As part of our Group Strategic Review, we also announced 200 branch closures over the three year period. Today we can confirm that we will be closing 21 branches during July 2016 as part of this strategy.

“Branches will continue to play an important role in our multi-channel approach to meeting customer needs and we expect to continue to have the biggest branch network in the UK.”

The spokeswoman says Accord and Unite are part of the consultation process.

She says: “The Group’s policy is always to use natural turnover and to redeploy people wherever possible to retain their expertise and knowledge within the group.

“Where it is necessary for employees to leave the company, it will look to achieve this by offering voluntary redundancy. Compulsory redundancies will always be a last resort.”

The cuts are taking a toll on the remaining workforce, according to Unite the union.

Unite regional officer John Morgan-Evans says: “It is alarming that Lloyds are continuing to offshore IT roles in the name of driving down cost.

“This simply means that the bank want to pay an IT worker in India less for the same work carried out in the UK. This disastrous race to the bottom hurts our members and inevitably impacts customers.

“The bank forgets that these relentless cuts have a human cost. Unpaid overtime and work-related stress are already at endemic levels across the bank and this will reach a crisis point if Lloyds continue to swing the axe.”